President Andrzej Duda and Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak were in Pomerania yesterday to observe tactical military exercises in the area of the Wisła Spit. Codenamed Zalew-23 (Lagoon-23), the drills included operations in the Bay of Gdańsk, reconnaissance of the Polish border in the Wisła Lagoon area, and practiced responses to military and hybrid threats, according to officials.

The joint tactical exercises included 2,500 soldiers from the Polish Army, Navy, and Air Force together with troops from NATO’s battalion-size battlegroup stationed in Poland as part of the alliance’s Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP). An additional 500 units of „combat-focused and logistical-support equipment” were also involved in the exercise, according to the office of the Polish president.

Duda said he and Błaszcak were „pleased with how the drills went,” going on to stress the importance of Poland’s new waterway linking the Bay of Gdańsk and the Wisła Lagoon, particularly given the proximity of the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad”.

Duda described the canal, launched last year, as having „strategic importance for defending Poland’s territory and borders.”

Source: Radio Gdańsk, Polskie Radio

Thousands of paper daffodils are expected to be handed out on the streets of Warsaw and other Polish cities today in honor of those who died in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The daffodils serve as a tribute to noted ghetto fighter Marek Edelman and his annual floral commemoration of the Uprising and a poignant reminder of the yellow stars that Jews were made to wear during the Nazi German occupation.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising broke out on April 19, 1943, and lasted until May 16, 1943, with an estimated 13,000 fighters reportedly killed during the revolt. It was the first uprising in Nazi-German-occupied Europe and the largest act of armed resistance by Jews in World War II. Some surviving Jewish combatants later fought in the Warsaw Uprising, launched by Poland’s underground Home Army (AK) on August 1, 1944.

The City of Gdynia will host its own commemorative event today, and those interested in commemorating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising are encouraged to make their own paper daffodils, per the template and instructions available >>>HERE.

Source: Polskie Radio, gdynia.pl

Some 10,000 young Jews and hundreds of Poles attended the annual March of the Living yesterday at the site of the former Nazi German Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in southern Poland.

The demonstrators were joined by Holocaust survivors and a host of dignitaries from various countries, including Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who is currently on a three-day visit to Poland.

In a speech at the ceremony, Mattarella paid tribute to the victims of Nazi Germany and also spoke of the continued suffering of the Ukrainian people nearly 14 months into the Russian invasion. „In the face of Russia’s ongoing inhuman aggression in Ukraine,” Mattarella told the gathering, „the memory of the Holocaust continues to be a timeless warning that we must not ignore.”

Continuing the tradition from previous years, the marchers walked the three-kilometer route from Auschwitz’s infamous „Arbeit macht frei” (Work Sets You Free) gate to the crematoria of the nearby Birkenau site.

The annual March of the Living pays tribute to the 1.1 million people – mostly European Jews, as well as Poles, Roma, Soviet POWs, members of the LGBT and disabled communities, and people of many other nationalities – who were killed in the camp before it was liberated on January 27, 1945.

Source: Polskie Radio

An 89-year-old windsurfer from Gdynia may take over the Guinness World Record for „world’s oldest windsurfer” after completing his final journey this week. Despite difficult swimming conditions, a variable and relatively weak wind, and his age, Piotr „Małolat” Dudek raised his sail near Śródmieście beach in Gdynia this week and casually sailed towards Hel with the cheering of his friends from the Gdynia Morsowanie Club.

Dudek has been windsurfing since 1981 and has used his forty years of experience to train hundreds of aspiring windsurfers in the complex art of the sport. His attempt to break the current Guinness World Record required perseverance and fortitude of both mind and body as it required Dudek to enter the cold water of the Baltic in February, March, and April. According to Dudek, „cold water is not a problem,” as he „[has] been swimming for thirty years.”

After completing his final voyage, Dudek was greeted by the Mayor of Gdynia, Wojciech Szczurek, who gave him a commemorative cup and a bag of gifts from the city. The senior windsurfer did not attempt to hide his joy, admitting that he never anticipated that he might end up in the record books someday.

Source: Radio Gdańsk

Weather

Today will be mostly cloudy, with a chance for scattered rain showers into the early afternoon and a strong breeze coming from the northeast. Temperatures will remain on the cool side with a daytime high of 9°C or 48°F dropping to a low of 6°C or 43°F overnight. Warmer, sunny weather is expected tomorrow, with a chance for rain showers returning later in the week.

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Elizabeth Peck/MarWer